Turn
by Lily on the Briar
Summary: Sarah runs the Labyrinth, breaks out of the dream, and wins back the child. But then again...


Originally written and posted a while ago for Challenge 24 at the Labyfic Livejournal

* * *

She is falling

/ _Falling_ /

down, like Alice through her rabbit hole, through shattered glass and the remnants of elegance. The debris drifts through the darkness and she reaches out in a daze to touch a stray pearl. But the world shifts around her and she is no long falling, but landing, quickly and before she can prepare herself. She lands hard, adding new bruises to the collection of cuts and scrapes and wisdom she has gained over the last several hours. (Nearly a day, nine hours have passed after she spent a normal day at home and if she stopped a moment in her valiant quest, she would remember her exhaustion.)

She has landed in the junk yard, and she will face the junk lady to put her childish past and the things she has clung to behind her, she will fight her way through the goblin city to the castle beyond to take back the child. (Stolen? Maybe. But she had asked- ) She will stand in the ruins of his creation as he stands before her in white and she will recite the words she has learned.

And she does this, and it happens.

But then again -

She is falling, glass shards swirling, and she will land, and it will happen, but if you turn it this way-

 _Look into it_

She is falling and she is landing and the world is a blur for a moment. When it clears, she is still in the Labyrinth, but hours behind where she had been. Tall hedges rise around her, but above them the shadow of the castle is clear on the horizon. It is close, close enough to push away the despair that had momentarily risen against her. She gets her feet beneath her and she runs.

She is barely running an hour later, but she knows she is close. The castle is only a few walls away, perhaps around the next turn…

But he is before her, grinning triumphantly and clutching _her_ brother.

"Your time is up," he begins, but she barely hears as she casts about desperately for something, anything she can use to stall him, stop him. (She was so _close_ ) This isn't how the story goes, she doesn't lose. Her racing thoughts slow as she realizes she only possesses one thing here.

"I'll stay." She thrusts the words forward, hoping they will be enough. "I'll stay if you take Toby home."

A crystal is at the tips of his fingers, reaching towards her, but settles back into his palm at her offering. He would never be something so human as surprised, but he would allow that this is a possibility he had not expected. He sets the crystal spinning again, dancing it over his fingers, and looks at her, mouth in a twisted smile and eyes narrowed. She stands as tall as she can, (still not level with him) swallowing back the cold that threatens to drown her, shoving it down to where she is hiding her exhaustion. He waits before letting his grin spread.

"You for the baby. I'm not certain it's an even trade." He waits again, enjoying the tremble that is beginning to show in her clenched hands. "Agreed. Your brother will be returned and you will remain in his place."

He leaves, and the child is returned; he is a being of his word, if nothing else. He doesn't return to her, choosing instead to watch her from his castle as she stands, braced for a blow. When night falls, she finally collapses.

He watches as she struggles over the following weeks and months, often joined by his treasonous subjects. He can only be amused, however, so much risked and nothing gained. Her days are far from easy, the Labyrinth was never meant to welcome humans. It may have been kinder if he had turned her into a goblin instead. ( _Such a pity_ ) But she struggles and she survives, and he loses interest.

And then the whispers start.

It's hardly worth his notice at first, the goblins are always on about one thing or another, but then he hears a mutter about the girl who ate the peach and stayed forever. (It isn't until later he realizes that by then it was already far too late.) He begins watching her again. She is happy, which makes him more uncomfortable than he would like. He never goes to her though, even as the whispers grow – never confront a rumor, you'll only make it true.

He has never been afraid of his goblins, how could he be (Disgusted? Yes. Afraid? Ridiculous.) But there is something in the way they look at him now that he doesn't like, more than the smell of bog that is filling the throne room, no matter how many of them he gets rid of. All the while, she never does anything he can see, only smiles, and he thinks the babe would have been the better choice after all.

( _For my will is as strong as yours_ )

 _Turn_

She is falling and landing and standing before the gates to the Labyrinth. She tries to take a step forward, but stumbles to her knees, her throat closing as she gasps for air. She had come so _far_ , he couldn't just do this to her now! Words she knows well rise to be said, but she clenches her teeth against them, even as they burn her lips. (If there was ever a time she deserved to say them, it was now.)

She rubs swollen eyes with grimy hands, then takes a deep breath and holds it. She looks at the gate again, breathing out, then throws her shoulders back and pushes open the doors. She breaks into a run as she enters the Labyrinth once more, trailing a hand against the wall as she goes.

She is dragging herself along the twisted passages when the time comes, and she nearly falls at his feet when he appears before her. He speaks, taunting her, she's sure, if only she could make out the words. She tries to respond, to say anything, but her voice is lost, she can only gasp painfully as the crystal breaks over her and she is gone. The last thing she sees is his gloating smile before her room reforms around her. She gives in and cries, continuing even after she's run out of tears, until she falls into restless sleep.

She is jostled awake by her father and opens her eyes to see his and her stepmother's shocked faces above her. She collapses back into tears and her stepmother tries to soothe her while her father paces the room. Her voice still hasn't recovered, but she mouths again and again against Karen's shoulder, "sorry, I'm so sorry, I-"

When she can finally breathe evenly again and has had several glasses of water, the questions start. Where was she, what was she doing, what _happened_ to her? But not a word about Toby. His name brings only blank stares, so she pushes past restraining hands to their room. It looks much as it ever did, but missing is the white crib, the changing table, the neatly folded onesies, and she realizes that not only has he been taken, he is gone.

It is a horrible night, and Karen barely prevents her husband from dragging Sarah to a hospital or _somewhere_ , persuading him it can at least wait until tomorrow, it's one in the morning.

Sarah spends the next day in her room, sleeping and fighting her dreams, while her parents hover. When she finally gets up, she begins packing her room. She has had enough of stories. Once she realizes Sarah won't be dissuaded, Karen helps, her worry never leaving her face.

Elsewhere, the Goblin King forgets her, another failed runner in a long list. (But she will remember.)

Time passes, as it does, with only minor interference.

Sarah learns, secrets only few people can tell her, things the Goblin King has forgotten, and some he never really knew.

The first time he feels the tug at his kingdom, intruding on his focus, he doesn't know what to make of it. (It's been so long.) It is almost dismissed, until the next tug comes, pulling at his magic and dragging his attention. He turns to dust-covered and abandoned scrolls and remembers for the first time in too many years that the Labyrinth is not the only path.

He works to rally his defenses, but the Labyrinth has become less than it was, so much has been lost. The intrusions come closer and closer together and he finds himself looking over his shoulder, expecting one day to find green eyes waiting for him.

( _And my kingdom as great_ )

 _ **Turn**_

Falling, landing, standing up in an unfamiliar room. It doesn't take long to realize where she is; the Goblin King is sitting on his throne, bouncing her brother on a knee and smiling indulgently. He freezes as he notices her presence.

The girl who ate the peach has not forgotten everything.

Struggling at first, the words come back to her, practiced so many times, and she gains composure as she walks to the throne. The king holds the baby close, even as the child begins to fuss, but makes no other move. She finishes her speech, holding out her arms expectantly. Slowly, reluctantly, he places the child in them. There had been no time, he should have _prepared_. But she is here, and there is no other option, nothing else he can do. She is hugging the child to her, grinning hugely. He throws a crystal at the pair quickly, not wanting to see them another moment.

 _ **Turn!**_

 _Back, further._

Standing, and her nose tells her where she is before her eyes. She gags, quickly covering her mouth with her sleeve, trying desperately to avoid the stench. She looks around, she can't be far from where she was. If she can just find – there, the stones Ludo had called. They had followed the path here, her friends must be just ahead.

She remembers the forest past the bog, but it is darker now than when she entered it before and she is alone. She follows the path as best she can, examining every shadow for familiar shapes, expecting any moment to hear a sharp bark or a grumbling voice. But the growl that comes out of the darkness isn't the comforting rumble of Ludo, nor does she think she wants to help this beast. She can barely see around her now and she jumps at the sound of leaves rustling behind her.

She quickens her pace, breaking into a run, and then she is sprinting through the forest, dodging vines and branches. Over her own harsh pants she can hear something moving behind her, but she can't run any faster. Maybe a tree –

The Goblin King watches the clock as the final seconds tick away. He forms a crystal and it shows only the forest where she had accepted his gift, as expected. Nothing more than a dreamer after all. A true pity, she had shown such potential, and there were few enough amusements around.

It is years later before another child is wished to him. A young boy this time, wishing away his sister. He doesn't expect the boy to make it far, he is barely more than a child, as the girl had been, but with none of her dreams or her determination, only her spite. He had been surprised the boy hadn't accepted his dreams. He didn't truly want to run. But oddly enough, the boy runs farther than he would have ever guessed, nearly two-thirds of the way through before his time is over. Still, it is not far enough, and the boy is returned home without his prize.

A young mother is next, and very nearly makes it to the castle, despite having no helpful qualities he can see. He begins spending his days testing his Labyrinth, repairing its weaknesses, until it is a trial very few could pass.

The father who wishes away his child next wins him back with minutes to spare and the king is determined to tear down his maze stone by stone until not a single person can make it past the gates.

And while the next runner only reaches halfway, the one after reaches the castle, a feat repeated by the runner that follows.

And no matter how many walls he tears down and rebuilds higher, doors closed and traps opened, he continues to lose, defeated by the one silently following his every step, watching him, learning the maze better with every change.

 _Turn_

The crystal breaks, time and again, over and over. Another twist, another angle. Scenes flash by, one after another, choices, a myriad –

 _Turn_

Her words echo: _You have no –_

 _ **Turn**_

 _It will show you your dreams_

Turn


End file.
